Safety holding device for vehicles



Dec. 19,1944. I v, R, CARLISLE SAFETY HOLDING DEVICE FQR VEHICLES FiledDec. 22, 1941 erg-lagga 22 34 fif ENTOR.

WITNESSES 3 R. Carlis Z 2 wfizm HLSATTORNEY Patented Dec. 19, 1944UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY HOLDING DEVICE FOR VEHICLES Vernon R.Carllsle, Kenosha, Wis. Application December 22, 1941, Serial No.423,940

4 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in safety holding devices forpassengers of vehicles, the device being particularly designed to beapplied to various vehicles for holding and restraining the occupants orpassengers from being thrown forward or injured in case of accident orcollision and adapted to be applied to the seats of various vehiclessuch as passenger automobiles, buses, trains and trucks, and is acontinuation in part of my prior application for Safety devices forvehicles, Serial No. 227,032, filed August 27, 1938, now Patent2,267,373, issued Dec. 23, 1941.

Long observation and study on the part of the applicant has led him tothe conclusion that a large number of fatalities and injuries could beavoided if proper safety devices were placed on the seats of vehiclesand if the persons using the seats utilize the safety devices. As iswell known, when a vehicle is in a collision the vehicle may be stoppedbut the tendency of the body of a passenger is to move forward and crashthrough a windshield, etc., or against some other object causing injuryor fatality. It is believed that there is no more effective way tominimize injuries and fatalities resulting from accidents than byfurnishing proper safety devices for said vehicles. To that end, it hasbeen an object of my invention to provide safety devices for vehiclessuch as straps or other similar devices which willeffectively limit themovement of an occupant of a vehicle which is stopped in collision so asto prevent or minimize injury to the occupant.

Another object has been to provide safety devices of this kind which maybe easily utilized and which may be adjusted and which may be arrangedout of the way when not in use.

Another object has been to provide safety devices of the kind describedwhich 'are inexpensive to produce and simple to attach and install.

These and other objects and advantages will appear more fully in thehereinafter specification when taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which;

Fig. 1 is a front view of a seat showing one form of safety deviceapplied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front view of a modified form;

Fig. '4 is a side view ofan automobile partly in section illustratingthe application of the safety device to the seats thereof, and

Fig. 5 is a plan view partly in section of the cab of an automobile withthe invention of Fig. 1 applied.

Referring more particularly to the drawing and especially to Figs. 1 and2 I have shown a conventional seat l5 of an automobile with a pair ofbrackets H5 at the back near the top thereof. Ordinarily these would bepositioned above the robe rail. A pair of straps H are secured at oneend of each to these brackets and these straps are provided with aplurality of holes in their free end portions. The straps H at theirfree ends are. adapted to be secured by means of buckles I8 to the freeends of two straps 19. At the other ends of the straps ill the same areprovided with snap fasteners, hooks or the like 20 which are adapted toengage or snap into eyebolts, loops or the like 2| which may be mountedon the floor 22 of a vehicle or at any point in the front of the seat orto the seats themselves at the lower-portions thereof. Where the deviceis applied to individual or single seats, or to the ends of long seats,recesses 23 may be provided in the seat preferably at the sides andfront corners thereof to accommodate the straps l9.

It will also be understood that the device is adaptable for front andbackseats and when in use, the straps H. are crossed to form a headopening 24 above the point of crossing of the straps ll so that thelatter will extend across the chest or front of the body of. a personreposed on the seat. It will thus be seen that when this device is inuse a person takes his seat and the straps I! which may be disconnectedat the buckles 18 or at the snap fasteners 20 from the eyebolts 2|, maybe crossed in front of the person and then connected either at thebuckles l8 or eyebolts 2|. The buckles are adjusted to secure thedesired adjustment for comfort and proper retention of the personseated. It will also be seen that a person may take a seat in anautomobile for example and adjust the straps ll over the shoulders andconnect the same to the straps I9 at the buckles It so as to extendacross the chest or with the straps I! initially connected to the strapsH! at the buckles l8 and straps l9 loose at their lower ends, connectionmay be made at the snap fasteners 2ll with the eyebolts 2|. In eitherevent, the necessary lenthwise adjustment of the straps l1 and I9 may beobtained at the buckles l8 so as to properly fit the body.

In the form of the invention disclosed in Fig. 3 of the drawing, whichmay also'be utilized for front or back seats there are provided a strapllhaving a plurality of holes in its free end portion and adapted toengage and be secured by means of a buckle I8. at the upper free end ofa strap IS the same as heretofore described and also a strap 30 having aring .or loop 3|. It will be understood that the straps I1 and 3041 aresecured by brackets such as the brackets IIi heretofore disclosed on theback of the seats. this arrangement the strap I1 is passed through thering 3| of the strap 30a and thence downwardly and at its end is buckledat I8 to the strap I9 Thus, it will be seen that a person may, afterbeing seated, or even before being seated, insert his head in theopening 24 and may then either buckle strap I! to the strap I9 if it hasbeen unbuckled and obtain the proper adjustment to properly secure thebody, or may use the snap fastener 20 to secure the same in the eyebolt2|.

Referring to Figs. 4 and 5 of the drawing I have disclosed front andback seats 29 and 30 the backs of which are provided with the bracketsI6 having the straps I'I secured thereto and the other parts arearranged as previously described except that the straps I9 instead ofextending into corner recesses 23, extend down in front recesses of theseat for connection with the eye-v bolts, eyelet brackets or loopslocated on the seat or on the fioor 22 adjacent the front of the seatintermediate the ends. The straps I9 may extend downwardly between thelegs of a person and the straps snapped on to the eyebolts or the like2| by means of the snap fasteners or hooks 20. As shown, the straps I9extend over the front of the seats and are thereby detachably anchoredto the floor as previously described. Also, it will be understood thatthe invention is not limited to the use of the eyebolts and snapfastening means but other equivalent means may be used, nor is myinvention limited to the buckles shown or to buckles at all and otherequivalent means may be substituted for fastening or adjustment. Also,it will be seen that when the invention is used, a person takes his seatand the straps I1 may be drawn or engaged over the shoulders with thehead projecting between the same and above the point of crossing of thestraps at the body or chest and the latter adjusted as desired. Also,the straps I'I may be adjusted at their connection with the straps I9 bythe buckles I8 to any length desired to suit different persons accordingto their sizes or desires in order to secure proper comfort. On theother hand, a person may after being seated insert his head between thestraps I1 and 30a above the point of crossing and then connect the snapfastener 20 with the eyebolts or the like 2| attached to the floor atthe front of the seat. On the other hand, if straps I1 and I9 are usedin pairs as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 5,

and straps I! have been disconnected from the straps I9 and the snapfasteners 20 remain connected to the eyebolts 2I, the straps I! may beconnected through the buckles I8 and adjusted as desired to properly fitthe body without unnecessarily restraining the seated person so thatdifferent persons may be secured in position and held safely againstinjury in case of an accident or collision. The same is true where onlyone strap I1 and one strap I9 are used as shown in Fig. 3 in connectionwith strap 30a and loop I. It is also to be understood that four strapsare provided for the front seat and four or six straps, as seen in Fig.5, provided for the rear seat, that is two for each person seated. Also,it is "to be understood that the straps I1 and 300 may after extendingover the seat back, be anchored in any suitable manner such as to thebody of the vehicle or a wall thereof, or to the fioor as described inconnection with the straps I9, but in back of the seat instead of infront thereof as shown in my prior Patent 2,267,373 and my applicationSerial No. 423,939 filed of even date herewith, respectively. The ideais to firmly anchor the straps so that if the seat is torn loose by theforce of inertia in case of impact or collision in an accident thepassenger will be held to the seat and interior of the car independentlyof the seat and the seat held in position as well, so that the passengerwill not be thrown or bashedagainst an unyielding part of the vehicle orcrushed. i

While I have illustrated and described the preferred form ofconstruction for carrying my invention into effect, this is capable ofvariation 1 and modification without departing from the spirit of theinvention. 1, therefore, do not wish to' be limited to the precisedetails of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of'suchvariations and modifications as come within the scope of the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a safety device of the kind described for the seat of a vehicle, astrap disposed in an inclined position to extend over the seat in frontof the seat back and over the top of the latter and secured at one endin back of the seat back, detachable fastening means for securing theother end of said strap to the fioor of said vehicle adjacent the frontof the seat, a second strap secured at one end in back of said seatback, extending upwardly over the seat back and downwardly diagonally infront of the seat back with its lower end terminating in front of theseat back, said second strap having a ring at its lower end throughwhich said first mentioned strap is adapted to extend to form a headopening through which a person is adaptedto insert his head, said strapsbeing adapted to extend across the chest of a person seated in said seatand to limit the movement of said body relative to said-seat.

2. In a safety device of the kind described for a seat for a vehiclehaving a back, a pair of straps each secured in back of said seat backat one end, means confining the opposite ends of the straps, theconfining means comprising eye-bolt and snap fastening means forsecuring at least one of said straps at its other end to the fiooradjacent the front of said seat, said secured straps being adjustable inlength by means thereon adjacent the top of the seat and extending downthrough recesses in front of the seat, said straps being arranged inconvergent relation extended diagonally across'each other at the frontof the seat back to provide a body and head opening, and said strapsbeing adapted to cover portions of a body seated in said seat, and tolimit movement of said body relative to said seat.

3. In a safety device of the kind described for a seat of an automobileor similar vehicle, a plurality of straps extending up and down in frontof the seat back for each person, each having its upper end extendingover the seat back and anchored in back of the seat back, said seat haing recesses at the front receiving said straps downwardly therethrough,and means for securing the straps at their other lower ends to the flooradjacent the base portion of the seat at the front thereof.

4. In a safety device of the kind described for a seat for a vehiclehaving a back, a pair of straps each secured in :back of said seat backat one end, eye-bolt and snap fastening means for aaeaeee 3 front of theseat back to provide a body and head opening, and said straps beingadapted to cover portions of a body seated in said seat, and to limitmovement of said body relative to said 5 seat.

VERNON R. CARLISLE.

